Jessye Norman - Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt - Salome

Jessye Norman in a wonderful interpretation of this touching end of R. Strauss' "Salome".

Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt,
Jokanaan.
Ah! Ich habe ihn geküßt, deinen Mund,
es war ein bitterer Geschmack auf deinen lippen.
Hat es nach Blut geschmeckt?
Nein? Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach liebe.
Sie sagen, daß die Liebe bitter schmecke.
Allein was tut's? Was tut's?
Ich habe deinen Mund geküßt, Jokanaan!
Ich habe ihn geküßt, deinen Mund!

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Jessye
• Norman
• Salome
• Finale

[martello79]

The sheer beauty of this voice and the quality in interpretation as well as pronunciation brings me to a level of ecstasy in which I can not think anymore "of the right colour" "right age of Salome"etc.... Wow.............

[MastersoftheOpera]

I totally agree with all the comments. When I first heard her singing this recording, I was blown away. The other cast members are lousy but Jessye alone shines. She is a powerful, majestic Salome with a dark and intense bite! She is singing just the way Salome ought to be sung

[mtrav95]

While I enjoy Norman's singing, hers isn't my favorite rendition of this scene. That said the role of Salome was written for a woman Norman's age and with her timbre. A woman's voice doesn't even reach maturity until she's at least in her 30's if not her 40's. It's one of those roles (like Juliet in Shakespeare's play) where when you're old enough to sing it you don't look as young as the character, and when you look young you're not old enough to sing it.

[gouldaddict]

I find it strange to see so many people complaining that Norman sounds too "old" because Salome is a teenager. The technical demands on the role are so punishing that it is nigh impossible for any less than 30 woman. Strauss himself said that the ideal Salome should "look like 16 and sing like Isolde". As if he didn't know that it is impossible to sing like Isolde AND look, or sound, like 16. If he wanted Salome to sound like 16, he'd have written something that required less maturity.

[whatever456]

I love norman. But this is too matronly

[Doromir]

I love Jessye Noman's voice but this is not her role. Salome is a sexy teenage psychopath. This voice is too dark and heavy for my taste. Norman's voice is truly heroic. But Salome is not a heroine.

[callas1000]

Salome is 14 years old!

Normans Voice, Character and interpetation not.

Welitschs voice is young and mercurial.

[MastersoftheOpera]

I have heard juba Welitsch but the primitive recording technology of her time was her disadvantage. I don't see why she's so great as Salome (I feel the same way about Eva Turner as Turandot). Jessye Norman sings this aria with a terrifying power and darkness that is very appropriate for the "evil" that Salome did in having Jokanaan's head cut off. I really love Jessye Norman's Salome along with Birgit Nilsson. Only these two ladies do it for me.

[luiscar89]

De acuerdo contigo. Tal vez eran voces muy opulentas y pesadas para Salome, geniales, pero no aportaban la suficiente credibilidad como para que uno en el lugar de escucha se creyera que interpretaban a una princesa de 15 años. Por otra parte MastersoftheOpera dice que no ha habido una voz capaz de reflejar la juventud del personaje ni hoy ni en tiempos de Strauss, pero al contrario, sí la hubo: Ljuba Welitsch. Tal vez la gran Montserrat Caballe sea la única que se le aproxime

[callas1000]

Norman ist eine große Sängerin, aber nicht für alles.

Ihre Salome ist nicht gut. Weder ihr Charakter, noch ihre Interpretation entsprechen der Rolle.

Es gibt schöne Momente aber keine erfüllten Momente. Sie ist nicht jugendlich, nicht besessen, nicht sexuell begierig.

Eine Fehlbesetzung.

Auch stimmlich gibt es besseres von ihr.

Eine Idealinterpretation der Schlussszene lieferte Ljuba Welitsch unter Lovro von Matacic.